Thigh Straps & Amnesia
by emrys-knight
Summary: Mac goes on an intel grabbing op to take down one of the world's worst criminal organizations. Torture, amnesia and a whole lot of angst ensue.
1. Chapter 1

"I'm greenlighting the op, Jack." Matty tapped the lower middle screen in the War Room, signaling to the tac teams to gear up.

"Tell me you have a plan." Jack wasn't having any of what they were proposing even though he knew Mac was the best for the job.

"I do, actually." Mac set the Fleur de Lis shaped paper clip sculpture on the table and left the room, leaving Jack and Matty alone. He hated lying to Jack, and he almost never did. His only exceptions were when he had to do something he knew would make Jack worry. A necessary evil, Mac told himself, not believing a single word.

"You know he can do this." Matty put her hand on Jack's kneecap, while he sat down on the chair.

"I know, but something could happen. Something always happens." Jack said.

"The door is too strong. We can't break it." Mac would have laughed at the whine in Jacks tone, had he not needed to concentrate. "After you." He stepped to the side when Mac began his assessment of the door.

"Jack-"

"Yeah, yeah, hand you my phone. Here." Jack had already had his phone out, ready for Mac before his name was even said.

"I'm just gonna use this to trick the lock in the tumblers…" Mac mumbled while he worked, not fully finishing his sentences. Jack didn't mind, because, well, he didn't understand all of it. But what he did, he was proud of.

Mac had taught him a lot over the years and vice versa.

The lock clicked and Mac handed the disassembled phone to Jack, with a silent laugh. He hadn't turned to see Jack's face but he didn't need to. He knew good and well what it looked like, anyway. How could he not? He'd seen it a thousand times before. The two agents led the tac team inside, taking in the room.

It smelled like wet cardboard and burnt wood, the smell intriguing MacGyver and displeasing Jack. The walls were a depressing light beige and looked to be fifty to sixty years old. The windows looked as if they had previously been burned, creating a smoky black and clear effect, sending chills up every operative's spine. The floors were a standard tile flooring for California medical facilities. Darker beige doors surrounded the room. They had small windows in them, towards the left side, above the locks and handles.

"Why can't we have another beach mission? Why does it have to be an abandoned asylum out in the mountains where no one can hear our _screams_?" Jack's whisper tone almost echoed in the room, making it feel scarier. Mac could have explained how the sound waves were affected by the tile and how old the paint on the walls were and the material the walls were made of but he knew it wasn't the time and he could go through it all over some beer at his house once the op was completed. His thoughts were interrupted by the sight of captives looking out of their doors' respective windows.

"Hey." Mac pointed to the far right wall where said captives were, tired and terrified looking.

"Alright, let's get these open and get everyone out so you can…" Jack didn't want to finish his sentence, his mind thinking about what they were about to do. "...execute the op."

"Right." Mac honestly didn't want to talk about it, either. He was terrified but he knew it needed to be done. The intel they would get from it would be crucial to finding and hitting the rest of the facilities, freeing so many people who were being taken and putting away so many people who were getting rich off of immorality.

Mac, Jack and the rest of the tac team opened the six doors on the right wall, to funnel the captives out to freedom and into two large vans at the ready to bring them home. Mac was the first to notice the sounds of the criminal organization storming the halls, ready to fight whoever was intruding on their business. The team finally got the six victims out, getting into the vans. Mac's heart broke, knowing they couldn't get the others free. There was no time. Tires squealed and spun in an attempt to leave quickly. They were out of sight in seconds.

"Go, Jack. I'll see you soon." Mac knew it was killing Jack just as much, if not more, as him. They ran towards the exit, Mac running slightly slower. The door between them slammed shut, as the building was locked down and Jack had to remind himself it was part of the plan. He turned back to see Mac still inside, getting on his knees in surrender as guards filed in around him, guns drawn and aimed at the blond. The look in the kid's eyes was heartbreaking. One Jack knew would keep him up at night for years to come. Jack managed to convince himself to go before the gun wielding goons saw him. He was soon gone and Mac was being dragged to a back room. Alone.

"What's going on?" Jack got into the van with the hacker and Bozer, watching her type away at the keyboard.

"It sounds like they're taking him to a different part of the...building." Riley pressed a button and the volume was elevated, the whole van taking in what was happening to Mac while they sped down the gravel back roads.

"Who are you and who do you work for?" The voice was definitely a woman's. It was intimidating. Familiar to Jack.

"Willa. Dammit."

"I'm Mac; nice to meet you, too. What do I do? I work for a think tank that helps law enforcement." Jack did everything he could, after hearing that, to keep himself from jumping out of the van and going back to get Mac, bring him home and never let him leave ever again. He had to admit, though, Mac's cheeky tone helped lighten things for him albeit only a little.

"Well, _Mac…_ The footage from outside shows me how smart you are. I like smart people." She looked to the two gun-wielding men standing behind the blond. "Process him and put him in a cell." The two nodded, grabbing Mac by the underarms. "Take his communications piece out. They would have given him one if he assists with law enforcement." Mac's fear was visible on his face, despite his best efforts. The goons began taking him to a room on the other side of the abandoned mental asylum before the one finally noticed some of the other victims were gone. He grabbed Mac out of his colleague's tight grasp and slammed him against the wall, winding the poor blond.

"Where are they?!" His voice sounded almost distant. Mac was having a difficulty answering, as he did his best to supply air to his screaming lungs. The other goon reluctantly ran to the office where the older woman was, fearing what she would do.

"I...let...them...go…" Mac gasped with every word. As he did, the woman quickly walked into the room, her heels tapping on the old tile. She cupped her hand under his jaw, with her fingers tight on his cheeks. Her palm made contact with the underside of his chin, and her index finger nearly touched his throat.

"He let them go." The larger entered the room before she could ask. She looked to him with a terrifyingly angry look in her eye. "Process him and show him what we do when people piss us off." Mac was violently yanked off of his position on the wall and dragged into a back room.

Showers lined the back wall and the painted concrete floors showed that there used to be some benches in the middle of the room, only to be replaced with a large table with big, circular contraptions Mac had never seen before. The largest goon began to strip Mac down while the shorter had his gun trained on the blond. The next thing Mac knew, he was fully naked and he was terrified. The larger man pushed Mac into the exposed, gym-like shower, almost making him slip. The smaller set his gun down as the larger raised his, aiming it at Mac.

"Nico, turn on the water." The largest stepped forwards, as Mac stepped back, towards the fully tiled wall. Nico did as he was told and grabbed a hose, turning on the high-pressure water. Like Peter Quill in Guardians of the Galaxy, Mac was thrown back by the water, while Nico hosed him down. Mac noticed the lack of soap or any type of cleaning agent, and thought it to be an intimidation and dehumanizing tactic. It was working. They got him out and had him walk towards the table with the black circular straps. It almost looked like a futuristic shock collar for a dog. He thought about that as they wrapped it around the middle of his thigh and turned it on with a high pitched, drawn out beep before falling silent.

"I abandoned him. I abandoned a guy who has abandonment issues. I left him in there where they'll do God knows what to him." Jack paced the hardwood in the War Room, mind racing. "He's already been abandoned by his blood dad and now he's been abandoned by his not blood dad….What did the victims say about what happened?"

"The hospital has refused to let us speak to them, for the moment. And before you ask, yes, I told them we have an operative in there, right now. Yes, I told them we need the information but they gave me a bunch of excuses that are valid no matter how you slice it. Mac has done this before, Jack. Undercovers are walks in the park, for him."

"The look on his face, Matty." Jack ran his hand through his hair, frustrated with the situation and himself for letting the situation happen.

"I know." She shook her head. "You knew the woman who took him, didn't you?" Her sudden change of topic was not a surprise to Jack, anymore.

"I had a UC op, way back when, with a team who needed an extra member with combat skills. Mac stayed home to recover from a stab wound and we took one of her facilities down. She sells people for different reasons all over the US. What if Mac gets sold before Bozer goes in? Matty, that can't happen."

"Then we'll find him and get him back. Like we always do, Jack. Your undercover isn't going to change anything. It'll be okay."

Mac, now dressed in a light grey tank top and black sweatpants, was pushed into a small room. It was equipped with a thin mattress on the floor and a sweatshirt. The door was slammed behind him and he was left with his thoughts. Thoughts like how he knew he could get out and leave if he wanted to. Thoughts that told him that he couldn't because he had to stay to save people. Thoughts that threatened to choke him because he knew Jack was worried. He was terrified about what would happen to him, yet, he knew that in a few days, Bozer would come get him and he'd be okay.

"Stand straight and put your hands in the air." Willa's voice came, clear as day, through the metal door. Mac did as commanded and the door was opened with a loud squeal. Mac winced but kept his position.

"How many people got out?"

"6, ma'am." Nico fixed his posture, answering as swiftly as he could.

"Six cuts." She left the room, leaving Mac to be, once again, violently grabbed by the men. They dragged him out into the middle of the room, visible to the other victims in the rooms along the other walls. They took his tank top off while another goon came over to grab his right arm, Nico grabbing the left. Their fingers dug into his skin, no doubt leaving bruises along his pale skin. They pulled his arms until they were outstretched, limiting his movement.

"You can have the honors, Ty." Nico looked to the larger man. Ty grabbed a medium sized, incredibly sharp and bloodstained knife from his pocket, looking Mac in his widened eyes. "You might want to stop breathing so fast, bro. He could cut too deep if you don't." He tried to slow his breathing as best he could, given the information he just recieved. Ty began cutting over the top of Mac's left shoulder blade, almost at the top of his shoulder. He couldn't help the tension in his muscles, or the slight shiver at the cold touch of metal on his bare skin. The second cut was slower and deeper. He clenched his jaw shut, wincing in both pain and irritation as a groan slipped past his teeth. The air stung at the cuts, and he could feel the thin rivulets of blood slipping down his back. The last four cuts were cut at a slower pace and the knife was dug deeper into his back, making Mac tremble in pain, pulling at their hands a little, desperately wanting to curl in on himself. His arms bruised while the goons tightened their grip on the agent in a successful attempt to keep him still.

"Mikail, put his shirt back on and chuck him back in the cell." Ty started walking out of the room while the newest goon did as he was asked.

"Hey, I'm Mac." He sat on the floor next to a woman, not too much older than him. She picked up her bread and cheese and moved to the other side of the room, away from him. He tilted his head, slightly. Before he could take another bite of his small portion of food. There goes his first try at grabbing intel.

Ty and Nico came over, grabbing his arms tightly. Mac swiveled his head between the two. "What the hell?"

"Rules, bro. Don't talk to the other merch." Nico took the blond's shirt off, exposing his still-unhealed cuts on his back.

"It's your turn, this time." Ty handed the new guy, Mikail, a taser. Mac jerked out of their grips and tried to run out of the room. He regretted it, near-instantly because he immediately felt a sharp, burning, spastic pain in his thigh and collapsed, rolling across the floor, screaming. He grabbed at his leg, trying to get the pain to stop as he felt his muscles convulsing. "It's the strap, pretty boy. It triggers spasms in your muscles. As you can see, it hurts pretty bad." Mac's breathing became a heavy pant, when the strap was turned off. He was lifted into a standing position, putting all of his weight on his right leg, keeping his left free of pressure and strain.

"Try it again and we leave it on, longer." Nico looked to the new guy. "Do it. Twice." Mac shuddered when he saw Mikail making his way towards him. Maybe he _couldn't_ leave if he tried. He squeezed his eyes shut when Mikail lifted his hand with the weapon grasped tight. He held it to Mac's stomach for three seconds, sending him to the ground, shaking and groaning. Then another three seconds on the arm. The pain was nothing like the thigh strap but he could see why. It had to be more worth it for them to endure the torture rather than run. Stupidly smart, according to Mac while he convulsed on the floor. When he became still, they put his shirt back on. Unable to get up, he was dragged back to his cell.

"This is what happens when you break the rules!" Ty looked around the room at the victims looking through their respective windows.

"W-what _are_ the rules? You never said what they were." Mac realized, instantly, that it was a mistake. But he had to ask… Right?

"Grab him, again." Ty's smile was Joker-like. He took his knife out and had them remove his shirt, once more. He slowly cut, again, under the six marks already on his back. They were like bloodied tallies, kept to remind him how many times he'd disobeyed the unspoken rules. Apparently, one of them was asking questions slash speaking when not spoken to. For the next few days, Mac learned what the rules were through repeated painful cuts, tazing and convulsing thigh muscles. Bozer had better get here, soon, because he's not having any of this.

Mac managed to sneak away from the room where all of the prisoners were eating and exercising. They wanted to keep them looking healthy for sale, Mac found. He managed to get to Willa's office, looking through her computer and paper files. He had heard the alarm blaring and the sounds of the goons running, with guns cocking. He knew he'd be in trouble and it was going to hurt like Hell. He got a few of the other facility locations, but before he could get anything else, Ty stormed into the room. Mac shut the file off and stood straight.

"Maybe we could talk about this-" Mac's thigh convulsed, sending him to the floor with top-of-the-lung screams. Tears threatened to show themselves, but he'd managed to hold them back.

"Boss lady isn't gonna like this. You're gonna get a punishment but I won't say anything for both our sakes, got it?" Ty gripped his bicep with his bear hands, nearly cutting off the circulation, dragging him. The agent whimpered under the pressure but remained silent aside from that.

"Got-agh-got it." Mac took his own shirt off, this time, trying to keep from aggravating his cuts. He, apparently, wasn't moving quickly enough because the next thing he knew, it was ripped off of him and whimpering ensued.

"My turn!" Mikail quickly removed his taser from his pocket, in Mac's full view. He lost his patience and decided not to go slow. He shoved the weapon towards the agent, sending him back, hitting his head on the wall in an awkward sideways way. Mac momentarily fell unconscious, only to wake up to the sight of Mikail surging forward at him with the taser. Mac put his arm up, to protect himself, curling in on himself as best he could. Mikail was bear-hugged by Ty and pulled back before he could cause any more damage. Mac's dazed and confused look worried Ty and Nico.

"Dude, he could have a head injury! Shit! What if we can't sell him, anymore?! Boss lady's gonna kill us if he's damaged too bad!" When he noticed the slight blood running down the back of Mac's neck, Nico frantically ran over to Mac's cell, grabbing his hoodie. He pulled it over the agent, hiding the snaking red line. He saw those beautiful sky-blues and sighed in relief when Mac seemed to be fine. When he did, Willa walked in with Bozer, who was dressed in a full suit, tailored to perfection. Mac was brought to his feet and all of the doors opened. The victims lined up in the middle of the room and Mac was shoved in the middle.

"That one. What does he do?" Bozer pointed to Mac, who looked more dead inside than he'd ever seen the lively blond.

"Anything you want. He's incredibly smart but I'd say he's smarter than the rest. The good looks are going to cost you a little extra, too." Willa looked to a satisfied looking Bozer. He was doing his best to hide his broken heart for all of the victims. Mac included. He looked like he hadn't eaten or slept for days. It scared him but he kept the facade.

"Ten thousand?" Willa may have said it in a questioning tone but she meant it as a demand. She liked looking at Mac but she also really liked that paper.

"Ten thousand sounds good. I'll take him." Bozer handed her his large metal briefcase and let her walk away as Ty, Nico and Mikail brought Mac over and through the door. They explained everything he'd need to know for his new purchase.

"If he tries to run away or does something you're not cool with…" Ty lifted the remote to Mac's thigh strap and pressed the blue button. Mac fell to his knees, gripping his thigh, screaming at the top of his lungs while the muscles were strained. His sweatpants had been ripped when he fell and Bozer could see the muscles moving and shifting through the hole and nearly evacuated the contents of his stomach at the sight.

"Thank you, boys." Bozer swallowed the oncoming expulsion. "I'll take it from here." Bozer gently took Mac's arm, leading him to the waiting, Phoenix issued, limo. Mac didn't seem to like the contact, muscles tensing, and pulling back slightly. Bozer thought it maybe have just been for show, to convince the buyers that they didn't know each other, but the scared look in his eyes still remained when they got inside the limo. Jack reached out for Mac and was met with a flinch, eyes widened in fear. His head was down as he refused to look at his owners. Jack retracted his hug, accepting that he may need his space for a minute. He tried not to be hurt by the reaction but he'd just thought that maybe Mac would be excited to see him.

Riley gave Jack a sympathetic smile, seeing the sadness in his eyes.

When settled, the moving car began to rock the agent to sleep, and although he tried to stay awake, the pain and exhaustion was too much, and it pulled him under. He passed out with a quiet sigh, fear still present even in his sleep.

On the way back, Mac flinched and whimpered, trapped in a nightmare that was threatening to choke him. Jack wanted to help him but Riley stopped him, reluctantly reminding him of Mac's previous reaction to him. Much to the team's displeasure, Mac suffered throughout the whole ride.

Mac awoke in the med bay. The kindness the doctors had towards him felt foreign. They said his name with such fondness. It's almost like they'd met before.

Despite the kindness, Mac flinched at every touch and every time they reached in their pockets for a penlight or a writing utensil, he'd curl up, attempting to get away.

The removal of the thigh strap was welcome but confusing and terrifying all at the same time. Why did they take it off? It's what keeps him from running away. The doctor gently and slowly grabbed Mac's thigh, as to not scare him but the attempt was futile in his mental state. It's an intimate part of the body, after all. They cut through it with industrial scissors, the blades cold on his skin, making him shiver. When they finished, they laid the bottom of his gown to cover him up and brought the blankets to his hips. The warm feeling was absolutely one Mac didn't know he had wanted so bad.

He sat up, quickly, at the sight of Bozer entering into his room. He relaxed a little when his friend sat at the other side, on the large couch.

"W-what would you like me to do for you, sir?" Mac was taught all he was to do in the case he was sold.

"What? Uh… nothing?" Bozer's look of confusion elicited a tilted head from Mac and a slight feeling of relief. "Why don't you get dressed so we can grab some dinner and talk about the op?" Mac was confused but did as he was told.

Bozer picked Mac's clothes up and set them down on the bed, sitting in the recliner next to it. Mac stared at the clothes for a moment. Bozer motioned for him to go on and he complied. He slowly took the gown off, now showing his taser burns. Bozer jumped up, making Mac step back, slightly.

"What the hell happened to you?" Bozer ran over to see the burns, turning Mac around to see the multiple cuts all over his back and the heavy bruising on his torso and handprints on his arms. In the few days he'd been there, he'd, apparently, broken every rule and gotten all of the cuts he could, and maybe a few more because Ty really enjoyed it. Mac didn't know what to say, so he elected to stay quiet. Something that was really scaring Bozer. Bozer spun Mac around to speak to him, gaining, yet another, flinch. Bozer quickly got his phone out of his pocket and dialed a number. "Mac? Do you remember me?"

"Yes sir. You're the one that bought me. I'm here to do whatever you ask of me as best I can." Mac's head hung low, eyes looking to the ground. Matty answered.

"You've got me, Jack and Riley. How's blondie doing?"

"You guys need to get down here… like… _now_."


	2. Final Chapter

"You shouldn't go in there, Jack." Bozer had only wanted Riley and Matty to go in, knowing they'd be able to handle it better than the older agent would.

"Why not?" Jack inched towards the door, wanting to see his pseudo-son slash best friend.

Bozer quickly stepped in front of the door. "He doesn't remember us."

"What do you mean, 'He doesn't remember us?!" Jack pushed past Bozer, opening the door to fully take in the sight of the blond. Mac flinched, stepping back, eyes wide. "Come on, Mac, you remember me, right?" Mac trembled all over, giving Jack the saddest puppy eyes the older agent had ever seen, no hint of recognition in the kid's eyes.

"Jack-" Bozer came into the room. Riley and Matty followed close behind. The look of pure terror on Mac's face and the trembling of his thin form brought tears to Riley's eyes. Matty looked sympathetic, yet kept a strong facade for the team.

"You remember me, right, Mac? Come on, man. Afghanistan? Morocco? Remember those? Those times you saved my hide from the bad guys tryin' to kill us?" Jack quickly stepped forward, making Mac cower away, turning his head to the side as his shoulders hunched, brushing against his ears. He hid his face behind balled fists, breath catching at the sudden irritation brought to his wounds.

Jack couldn't help but feel bad when he'd scared the kid. But when he noticed the wounds on his arms, he wasn't able to stop himself from swiftly moving forward, grabbing Mac's bruised arms and turning them, seeing the handprints near his wrists. "Did they do this to you?" Mac nodded, slowly. It sounded like this older man cared. Why, though?

"Jack, that's not all of it." Bozer kept his hands up, as to let Mac know he meant no harm and moved slowly to the agent. He gently grabbed the bottom of Mac's shirt, raising it fully off of him.

"Oh, Mac…" Jack took in the sight of Mac's back, fully covered in cuts. Some deeper and worse off than others. Jack's eyes were glassy. He looked to see Riley and Matty, hands over their mouths. Matty remained on the verge of tears while Riley lost that battle, letting out quiet sobs for her friend.

"Jack." Bozer turned Mac around, showing the older agent the taser burns all over his chest and stomach.

"I'm so sorry, Mac." Jack rubbed a hand over his face. "I'm so, so sorry."

After the team had finally managed to convince Mac that they weren't gonna hurt him, they brought him home, where they had ordered some take-out from the Chinese place down the street. They all sat outside on the deck, overlooking the city. Mac had a large plate of General Tso's chicken and rice, and boy was he taking it down. Everyone was eating off of each other's plates, laughing and telling jokes, trying to get Mac to join in. He was so hungry, he couldn't focus on anything other than the protein, carbs… food.

Riley thought she'd try to include him by taking a piece of chicken from his plate, but before her fork could make contact with the meat, Mac grabbed her wrist with a tight grip, nearly bruising her skin. The look on his face was terrifying. Much to everyone's pleasure, it quickly melted away when he went back to eating his food.

"Woah!" Riley hissed at the pain when he'd released his grasp. He continued to shove the food down, not reacting or apologizing for what he'd just done. Something the team noticed was out of character for the normally-kind guy.

"What the hell was that?" Matty looked at the agent in disbelief.

"Hey." Jack looked at Matty, motioning for her to follow him back into the house.

"What?" She put her hands on her hips, ever-so-slightly tilting her head, raising her eyebrows at the agent.

"Okay, so I went to the hospital and talked to the first six victims we rescued and the ones they got out after they stormed the place when Bozer got Mac out." Jack's words came out in a rush, giving Matty only the smallest amount of time to process.

"Jack, I told you-" Matty stepped forward, causing Jack to step back, hands in the air.

"I know. I know. But I had to know what I was dealing with, here." He gave her a look of desperation that even she couldn't ignore. That wasn't just some suspect or random victim out there. That was Mac who had just lashed out and physically harmed his friend. Something the normal Angus MacGyver would never do.

"So?" Her tone was firm and impatient.

"They said that if they broke any of the 'rules'," Jack used air quotations around the word, "they'd get punished with either cuts or tasering. One of the most recent victims said Mac had a thing for breaking the rules, in there. But the food thing… They said that you got one meal a day and it wasn't much. Just some bread and two cheese sticks. They said that 'cus they only had a little bit of food every day, that they'd have to fight to keep it because people would try and steal it. I guess our guy out there just did what he had been doing in there."

"Poor thing. Has he remembered anything since the car ride over here?"

"Yeah, he remembers the house but that's it, so far." Jack ran a hand through his hair, shifting his stance. "I need Mac back, Matty."

"I know. We all do."

Getting him to sleep was easy, poor thing was exhausted, but doing anything else took patience and a lot of reassurance. Mac became more comfortable as time went on, and remembered more and more from the things around him and the places they went to.

Jack knew that sleep was important for the healing of brain injuries but even he was impressed when, one morning, Mac suddenly remembered his best friend.

"Bozer!" Mac dropped his spoon into his bowl of cereal. Bozer turned, frantically, with a worried look on his face. "I remember!" He jumped up and ran across the kitchen where his friend was and gave him the tightest hug he possibly could without hurting the man.

"You remember?!"

"I remember!"

Jack smiled, laughing while he walked to the kitchen, himself. "You remember anything else, buddy?" He smiled as big as he could, pointing his thumbs at himself.

"I-I can't. No. I'm sorry." Mac's head hung low before Bozer broke the silence.

"We gotta get to work in a little bit so go get dressed!" Bozer took a drink out of his glass and set it down, looking at the saddened older agent. "He just needs time, Jack."

"I know." He nodded. "Any nightmares last night?"

"Yeah. When I woke him up, he almost hit me."

"That bad?" Jack sighed, pacing for only a moment.

"Ready to go?" Mac had his hand on the door, looking at the agents.

"Yup!" Jack changed his tone to a lighter one for Mac's sake and they left together, hoping to jog Mac's memory.

The team walked into the War Room to see what Matty had in store for them that day, to find her sitting, sipping coffee. The TVs were all turned off.

"Good morning, Vietnam! Whaddaya got for us today, Matty?" Jack strolled into the room, plopping into one of the chairs.

"You take every chance you possibly can to remind all of us how old you are, don't you, Dalton?" Matty's tone was funny to Mac. Familiar…

"Matty! I remember!" He raised his fists in the air, with a big smile on his face.

"Nice to know that a smartass comment is what it took for you to remember me." Matty laughed while she watched the blond, smiling and happy. Dammit. You can't help but love this kid. "Anyway, I called off any missions for the team until Mac has his entire memory back. Not that I don't trust you to make good decisions, but right now, it's most important that Mac is fully operational. We don't want the higher ups looking for an excuse to give us more trouble than they already do."

"Agreed." Mac set his dog paper clip sculpture on the table, leaving the room to go see what Bozer was working on.

Jack stood from his seat and walked forward, grabbed the sculpture and put it in his pocket. "I don't know what to do to get this kid to remember me. We watched all of the Die Hard movies, I said a bunch of stuff I say a lot, according to Bozer… I just don't know what to do."

"Jack, he just-"

"He just needs time. I know. How much time, though? What if he never remembers me?" Jack crossed his arms. "I can't live with him not remembering me."

"Hey, I ran in front of Mac real quick but I think I figured out to get him to remember me. I mean, he remembers almost everything but me!" Jack ran into the War Room and looked behind his shoulder, making sure Mac wasn't walking in.

"Well hurry." Matty motioned for him to continue.

"I'm gonna bring up Cairo."

"Jack-"

"Hear me out. I know it was a really bad mission but maybe the memory is strong enough that it could bring me out of whatever hole is in his memory."

"Jack, he could remember and have a really bad reaction, or you could confuse him further. I don't think it's a good idea." Matty's look of sympathy was rare and Jack had just received it. He hated it.

"I'm doing it." Jack stood firm in his decision.

"Doing what?" Mac walked in, sitting down in one of the chairs. He grabbed a paper clip and began working on his sculpture.

"Mac, do you remember Cairo?" Jack's quick blurting of words angered Matty and made Mac pause. He set the teacup paper clip sculpture down on the table. Mac kept his eyes trained on the floor, refusing to look at Jack, fearing the hurt look he would have on his face.

"I'm sorry." His words were barely audible.

"What?" Jack's voice was kept in a quiet and soft tone.

"I-I know that there's something there. I can feel how important you are to me. I just don't know why. I really am trying to remember you. It's just...I'm sorry, Jack." Tears formed in Mac's eyes and when he looked up to Jack, the dam broke.

Jack stepped forward, kneeling in front of Mac, putting his hands on his knees. "Don't do that. Don't beat yourself up for something that isn't your fault, you hear me, bud?" Mac nodded and sniffed. Jack's eyes glazed over, but he'd managed to keep the tears from announcing their presence.

"I promise I'm trying." Mac watched Jack stand up and leave the room.

"He's not mad at you, you know?" Matty stood next to the agent, watching as Jack walked back inside.

"I have one last resort for you, buddy. One last thing." He set the big black box on the table, having moved the bowl of paper clips from the middle. He opened it, revealing hundreds of paper clip sculptures, all looking familiar to Mac. Jack picked one up that looked like a penguin. "Remember this one? The one where you made a radio from a snowmobile? That was a crazy one." Jack could see the gears turning in Mac's head. He felt like he was getting traction.

"What about this one?" Mac picked up one that looked like a tree.

"Oh, man! That was the one in Florida when we jumped out of a three-story window into a swimming pool. That pool boy was so mad!" Jack laughed at the memory of it all.

"Jack-"

"I mean, we didn't know we were gonna be chased by knife-wielding ninjas!"

"Jack!" MacGyver's voice was strong. "I-I remember." He couldn't hold his emotions back, as he began to sob.

"You remember?!" Jack hugged Mac, trying not to hurt the kid.

"I remember, Jack! I love you so much!" Jack could feel Mac's shoulders shaking as he cried. Before all was said and done, the whole room was full of crying people. Bozer and Riley had walked in and seen the exchange between the two.

"This means we get to go on another mission!" Bozer's cheers gained him a look from everyone in the room. "What"

"Sweet Christmas, Boze, can't you wait for just a second while we have our little heart to heart, here?" Everyone laughed at Jack's half-serious whine. Mac squeezed even harder on the older man's torso, finally feeling whole again. Finally feeling like everything was gonna be okay.


End file.
